Hey guys,
Last night in bumper to bumper traffic, my car suddenly overheated. I noticed something was wrong when my a/c started blowing hot. I looked down and my temperature gaudge was completely pegged out and my coolant light was on. I immediately pulled off the road and opened my hood to look around at things. My coolant levels were fine and all of my hoses felt warm like fluid was moving through them. What you guys think this could be? I let my car sit for about thirty minutes then drove it to the dealership and the a/c was blowing ice cold and the temperature gaudge never got over normal again. This sucks. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

sounds like the thermostat got jammed closed. When it had a chance to cool down it was fine. Could've been caused by the spring assembly on the thermostat getting bound up on itself or a foreign object stuck in the passage way. By the age of the car I'd go with the first (spring binding)

 

Yea,I agree, you need to get that looked at. Just have them swap the thermostat for new.

 

Fan working? That is the only thing cooling your engine when stuck in traffic idling ... fans do nothing when driving down the highway ..

 

You might wish to verify the operation of the electric fan (or fans) Many are switched on by a temp sensing relay. Some secondary units come on as soon as you hit A/C. They could be at fault and you won`t know it until the system is stressed by heavy traffic.

 

^^ +1

 

yeah def a bad thermostat

happened to me

ive had problems like that twice now

first my car had a faulty radiator cap so it wasnt holding the 16psi like it was suposed to so it would spew coolant everywhere

then the thermostat offed itself

dang

 

Yea they do. They are on as needed. Mine as been on when coming home.

 

Yeah, technically they're "on" when needed, but if the car is moving, air is being forced through the radiator (generally) at a much faster speed than those little plastic fans can pull it, ergo, they "do nothing" when cruising...

 

Ford just called me and it turns out it was a fan. Thanks for the help guys.